Introduction: This paper aims to identify to what extent staff training interventions are successful in enhancing the development of communication skills in people with profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. Methods: A systematic review was undertaken, conforming to PRISMA guidelines. English language, peer reviewed, empirical studies of…

To better understand the existing research for teaching workplace social skills to individuals with severe disabilities, we conducted a systematic review of the literature across five databases between the years 1975 and 2020. This review examined study characteristics, intervention efficacy, and methodological soundness. We identified a total of…

A multiple baseline with probe across participants design was used to investigate the effects of an oral narrative intervention on early developing personal narratives of four children aged 6 and 7 with autism spectrum disorder and severe language disorder. The individual intervention targeted the narrative macrostructure elements of…

Schools have continued to rely on paraeducators to assist special education teachers and other professionals in the provision of special education and related services. Although paraeducators often support students with extensive support needs (ESN) in a range of school environments, the subset of intervention studies focused on paraeducators who…

Check in-check out (CICO) is a widely used and studied behavioural intervention. Although CICO is an effective way to support pupils' behaviour in a school context, not all pupils benefit from basic CICO. A single-case experimental study was designed to evaluate the effects of CICO Plus support (CICO Plus) for participants whose behaviour was…

Children's skill level in using a spoon facilitates increased independence during mealtimes and greater control over the pace and quantity of food intake, which has important implications for health and self-determination. Children with severe multiple disabilities, including cognitive and visual impairment (VI), require intensive instruction to…

Students with disabilities who display severe reading difficulties may require intensive interventions in order to make progress. The purpose of this study is to examine the effects of a multicomponent reading intervention implemented at two different intensities, in two separate randomized control trials, for a subset of fourth-grade students who…

Background: Sensitive responsiveness is an important aspect in affect-regulation of people with severe to profound intellectual disabilities. Aim: This randomized controlled trial evaluated the Attune & Stimulate-checklist, a tool for detecting subtle and idiosyncratic communicative behaviours and responding adequately. Methods: Effects on the…

We all 'play' music! Play experiences for children with profound and multiple learning disabilities (PMLD) are often compromised, lost in complex care routines, increasingly stretched timetables and a lack of suitable play interventions. This study investigates combining music with play, using a set of guidelines and principles developed by the…

We examined the effects of peer support arrangements as an alternative to exclusive direct support from paraprofessionals for three high school students with severe disabilities in general education classrooms. We also explored the use of structural analysis as a data-based approach for further refining the interventions to enhance their impact in…

Aided language stimulation is an augmented input strategy that facilitates the expressive and receptive language skills of persons who require augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). The aim of this study was to determine and compare the acquisition of receptive vocabulary items during implementation of aided language stimulation with…

There is limited research targeting communication interventions for children with severe/profound intellectual and multiple disabilities. This study addressed outcomes from a communication course for parents of children with severe/profound intellectual and multiple disabilities and follows up on a previous publication by Rensfeldt Flink et al.…

Background: People with severe to profound intellectual disabilities experience similar or higher levels of depression than those with more mild intellectual disabilities. Yet, there is an absence of evidence about how to adapt existing psychological therapies for this population. Method: A behavioural activation intervention (BeatIt) for people…

Peer networks are a promising intervention for increasing social interactions between students with severe disabilities and their peers. However, this approach has not been well studied with high school students who have complex communication needs and use augmentative and alternative communication (AAC). In this study, we used a multiple probe…

This study examined the effectiveness of the intensive implementation of a multicomponent reading intervention ("Voyager Passport") with 306 fourth-grade students with severe reading difficulties. Students with reading comprehension achievement below the 15th percentile in the fall of fourth grade were randomly assigned to the intensive…